Biology 3 Marks Question

→ Diseases or infections which are transmitted through sexual intercourse are collectively called sexually transmitted diseases (STD) or venereal diseases (VD) or reproductive tract infections (RTI).
→ Gonorrhoea, syphills, genital herpes, chlamydiasis, genital warts, trichomoniasis, hepatitis-B and of course, the most discussed infection in the recent years, HIV leading to AIDS are some of the common STDs.
→ Among these HIV infection is most dangerous.
→ Some of these infections like hepatitis-B and HIV can also be transmitted by sharing injection needles, surgical instruments, etc., with infected persons, transfusion of blood, or from an infected mother to the foetus too.
→ Except for hepatitis-B, genital herpes and HIV infections, other diseases are completely curable if detected early and treated properly.
→ Early symptoms of most of these are,
→ minor and include itching
→ fluid discharge
→ slight pain
→ swelling
→ Infected females may often be asymptomatic and hence, may remain undetected for long.
→ Absence or less significant symptoms in the early stages of infection and the social stigma attached to the STDs, deter the infected persons from going for timely detection and proper treatment.
→ This could lead to complications later, which include:
→ Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
→ Abortions
→ Still birth
→ Ectopic pregnancies
→ Infertility
→ Cancer of the reproductive tract.

→ Intentional or voluntary termination of pregnancy before full term is called medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) or induced abortion.
→ Nearly 45 to 50 million MTPs are performed in a year all over the world which accounts to 1/5th of the total number of conceived pregnancies in a year.
→ MTP has a significant role in decreasing the population though it is not meant for that purpose.
→ Whether to accept/legalise MTP or not is being debated upon in many countries due to emotional, ethical, religious and social issues involved in it.
→ Government of India legalised MTP in 1971 with some strict conditions to avoid its misuse.
→ Such restrictions are all the more important to check indiscriminate and illegal female foeticides which are reported to be high in India.
→ Why MTP?
→ Obviously the answer is-to get rid of unwanted pregnancies either due to casual unprotected intercourse or failure of the contraceptive used during coitus or rapes.
→ MTPs are also essential in certain cases where continuation of the pregnancy could be harmful or even fatal either to the mother or to the foetus or both.
→ MTPs are considered relatively safe during the first trimester, i.e. upto 12 weeks of pregnancy. Second trimester abortions are much more riskier.
→ One disturbing trend observed is that a majority of the MTPS are performed illegally by unqualified quacks which are not only unsafe but could be fatal too.
→ Another dangerous trend is the misuse of amniocentesis to determine the sex of the unborn child.
→ Frequently, if the foetus is found to be female, it is followed by MTP this is totally against - what is legal.
→ Such practices should be avoided because these are dangerous both for the young mother and the foetus.
→ Effective counselling on the need to avoid unprotected coitus and the risk factors involved in illegal abortions as well as providing more health care facilities could reverse the mentioned unhealthy trend.

→ Pills:
→ Oral administration of small doses of either progestogens or progestogen-estrogen combinations is another contraceptive method used by females.
→ They are used in form of tablets and hence are popularly called pills.

→ They have to be repeated in the same pattern till the female desires to prevent conception.
→ They inhibit ovulation and implantation as well as alter the quality of cervical mucus to prevent/ retard entry of sperms.
→ Pills are very effective with lesser side effects and are well accepted by the females.
→ Saheli :
→ Saheli the new oral contraceptive for the females contains a non-steroidal preparation.
→ It is a 'once a week' pill with very few side effects and high contraceptive value.
→ Developed by Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) - Lucknow.

(i) Condoms :
→ Condoms are barriers made of thin rubber/ latex sheath that are used to cover the penis in the male or vagina and cervix in the female, just before coitus so that the ejaculated semen would not enter into the female reproductive tract.
→ This can prevent conception.
→ 'Nirodh' is a popular brand of condom for the male.
→ Use of condoms has increased in recent years due to its additional benefit of protecting the user from contracting STIs and AIDs.
→ Both the male and the female condoms are disposable, can be self-inserted and thereby gives privacy to the user.
(ii) Diaphragms, cervical caps and vaults :
→ Diaphragms, cervical caps and vaults are also barriers made of rubber that are inserted into the female reproductive tract to cover the cervix during coitus.
→ They prevent conception by blocking the entry of sperms through the cervix.
→ They are reusable.
→ Spermicidal creams, jellies and foams are usually used alongwith these barriers to increase their contraceptive efficiency.